Humidifier



June 17, 1958 J. E. HARRIS ET AL 2,839,279

HUMIDIFIER Filed June 13, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 g? 3 INVENTOR.

Mar/'00 f. levy By John E Herr/l5 United States Patent HUMIDIFIER Marion I. Levy, Shaker Heights, and John E. Harris, Lakewood, Ohio, assignors to National U. S. Radiator Corporation, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Maryland Application June 13, 1956, Serial No. 591,081

4 Claims. (Cl. 261104) This invention relates to humidifiers of the tilting pan type which are used for imparting moisture to air or other gaseous systems by evaporation, and more particularly to humidifiers of the tilting pan type which automatically refill themselves when the water in the humidifier drops below a predetermined level.

An object of the present invention is to provide novel rack means for supporting a plurality of evaporator plates over substantially the entire length of the water reservoir pan in such a manner as to provide for maximum evaporation and yet not interfere with the operation of the water reservoir pan. This includes novel support by means of the rack passing through a hole in each plate.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel humidifier characterized by its structural simplicity, the ease of assembly of its parts, its strong and sturdy nature and its low manufacturing cost. Other features of this invention reside in the arrangement and design of the parts for carrying out their appropriate functions.

Further objects of the present invention and certain practical advantages will be referred to in or will be evident from the following description of one embodiment of the invention, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. l is a longitudinal side elevation view of the humidifier embodying the present invention and mounted on a supporting wall.

Fig. 1A is a fragmental view of a portion of Fig. 1, showing strut 66' having a pivot connection differing from that of strut 60.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the humidifier of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken along the plane of line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmental sectional view taken along the plane of line 4-4 of Fig. 2 and showing the water inlet valve in a closed position. I

Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmental sectional view similar to that shown in Fig. 4 but showing the water inlet valve in an open position. I

Before describing in detail the herein disclosed embodiment of the invention, it is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the structural details or the particular arrangement of parts herein shown, as

devices embodying the present invention may take other forms. It is also to be understood that the phraseology and terminology herein used are for purposes of description and not of limitation, as the scope of the present invention is denoted by the appended claims.

Referring to the drawings wherein like numerals designate like and corresponding parts throughout the several views, the present humidifier is of the tilting pan type commonly used for imparting moisture to the air of heating systems by evaporation. A suitable frame support is provided for pivotally mounting the water reservoir pan 10. The frame support includes a lower, horizontally extending portion which underlies the water reservoir pan 2,839,279 Patented June 17, 1958 '14 of a furnace as by suitable self-tapping screws 13.

The mounting plate is preferably formed of sheet metal and has its center portion pressed out of the plane of its edge portions for the purpose of increasing its strength and to receive the front end of pan 10.

The water reservoir pan 10 is preferably formed of a transparent material such as glass or clear plastic and has its front end provided with a stepped portion ltla as seen in Figs. 4 and 5 while its upper edge is formed with an outstanding lip 10b. The reservoir pan is preferably rectangular in shape and is provided with a metal ring 15 which completely surrounds the reservoir pan near the top and underlies the outstanding rim 10b. Means is provided for pivotally or rockably supporting the water reservoir pan 10 above the auxiliary pan '11. Said means include a pair of opposed notches 15a in the lower edge of the metal ring 15 along the two side walls of the pan. The notches 15a are located substantially closer to the rear of the reservoir pan than to the front of said pan. This makes the part of pan 10 to the left of pivots 15a the larger water capacity end. Two upstanding frame members 16, one on each side of the reservoir pan, have their upper edges received in the notches 15a and have their lower ends rigidly secured to the auxiliary pan 11. The members 16 are of a length to pivotally support the reservoir pan 10 free of the auxiliary pan Ill. The pivotal means are so located on the sides of the reservoir pan as to cause the reservoir to pivot upwardly in front when empty or substantially empty and downwardly in front when full or substantially full. The front is at the left in Figs. 1, 2, 4 and 5. It will be understood, of course, that other types of pivotal means may be employed. Also, the rear end of pan 10 might be made the larger capacity end which would merely require a reversal of the points 50 and 52 on lever 47.

It will be noted in Figs. 4 and 5 that auxiliary pan 11 has a single drain outlet means 11a on the outside of the furnace wall indicated in dot-dash lines at A. This insures that any overflow or leakage from the reservoir pan 10 will be discharged outside of the furnace Where it will cause no harm. This could be arranged whether or not the auxiliary pan 11 also served as a support for the pivot of the reservoir pan 1%. This arrangement would eliminate any fear of utilizing a glass pan 10 with a risk that the heat of the furnace might crack or break the pan It so that the water in the pan might be dumped in the furnace. The auxiliary pan 11 with the drain 11a outside of the furnace would take care of such a situation.

An inlet water valve 20 as best seen in Figs. 4 and 5 is positioned above said water reservoir pan adjacent the large water capacity end of the pan and in front of the mounting plate 12. An inlet water orifice or nozzle 21 is provided and is preferably cylindrical in shape and is tapered at its lower end to a point 22. A water supply pair of brackets 27 and 28 are welded or otherwise secured to the mounting plate 12 and extend outwardly therefrom to engage the water supply nozzle 21. The

brackets'27 and '28 are of complementary form with suitable apertures to engage and anchor the nozzle 21 as shown in Figs. 1, 4 and 5. A nut secures the nozzle to the brackets 27 and 28. Atlownwardly-opening bell shaped valve chamber 31 completely surrounds and encloses the water inlet nozzle21. The bottom of the chamber is closed by a flexible valve diaphragm 32 preferably formed of rubber, neoprene or the like and is sufficiently resilient to seal the water supply aperture 23 at the lower end of the nozzle 21 to which the diaphragm is closely situated. As seen in 4 and 5, the center of the upper surface of the flexible diaphragm 32 is .providedwith anannular upstanding sealingbead or rib 33 concentric with nozzle 21 which engages the side walls'of the tapered portion '22 of the nozzle 21 and further insures a tight seal when said diaphragm member is pressed against the nozzle. The lower surface of the flexible diaphragm directly beneath the annular rib is provided with a frusto-conical projecting actuator portion 34. The flexible diaphragm is also provided with an opening having a depending spout 35 attached thereto for the purpose of. discharging water from within the chamber31. The outer edge of the diaphragmis provided with an upwardly and inwardly turned clamping lip 36 which engages a small outwardly extending flange or rim on the lower, outer edge of the valve chamber 31.

Preferably, the top and side walls of the valve chamber housing 31 are transparent so that while the valve is completely enclosed to prevent splashing, the operation of the valve may be directly observed.

A water supply tube .39 extends inwardly and downwardly through the mounting plate 12 to a position wherein its lower end is normally submerged beneath the surface of the water in the reservoir pan to prevent splashing when in a position as seen in Figs. 4 and 5, while its upper end is in communication with the spout 35 to receive water from the inlet valve 20. The upper end of the water supply tube 39 is supported by means of a suitable resilient socket member 40 having an enlarged flared inlet opening. The socket is retained by means of bracket member 41 embracingan annular recess in the socket. The bracket 41 is rigidly secured to the mounting plate 12 and extends outwardly therefrom, as seen in Figs. 4 and 5.

Valve actuating means are operatively associated with the water inlet valve 20 and the water reservoir pan 10. Said actuating means opens and closes the water supply from the water inlet valve in response to upward and downward tilting of the Water reservoir pan. The valve actuating means include a vertically disposed valve stem 45 which is provided with an enlarged head member 46. The head member 46 freely projects through an aperture in the outer end of bracket 41 for free movement therein. The lower end of the valve stem is supported on a lever member 47 which will be hereinafter described. The upper surface of the head member 46 normally abuts the lower end of the projecting portion 34 of the flexible diaphragm 32, as seen in Fig. 4. The ease of movement or reciprocation of the valve stem 4-5 under various water conditions in pan 10, and counterbalance of the pan, is controlled by a coil spring 48 which is supported between the lower surface of the bracket 41 and an adjustable nut 49 which threadedly engages the shank of valve stem 45.

The lever member 47 is located at the bottom of the valve stem 45 and is provided with a notch or indent 50 to engage the pointed end of the valve stem 45. Spring 48 maintains contact between stem 45 and lever 47, and is strong enough to tilt pan 10 from the position of Fig. 4 to that of Fig. 5 when water in pan 10 is below the desired level. The lever is pivotally mounted in a pin 52 secured in U-shaped bracket 51 which in turnis rigidly secured to the mounting plate 12. The lever extends inwardly through said mounting plate to a zone beneath the water'reservoir pan where it engages the or releasing the 'undersur'face of the nozzle 21in'resp'onse to pivoting action of the reservoir pan 10. i The reservoir pan it is so positioned on the supporting pivot members 16 that when a desired predetermined level of Water exists in the reservoir pan, as shown in-Fig. 4, "the-weight of the water in thelargewater capacity end of the pan (here the front end of the pan) overbalances the weight of the water in the small water capacity end of the pan (here the rear end of thepan) and thereby causes't-he front end of the .pan to swing downwardly to a substantially level position, as seen in Fig. 4, whichsimultaneously causes the lever '47 to pivot in a clockwise manner about pin '52 from the position shown in Fig. 5 to that of Fig. 4 and thereby force the valve stem 45 upwardly to engage the flexible diaphragm 32 and move it into contact with the nozzle '21, as seen in Fig. 4, wherein it shuts off the flow of water' through the nozzle 21. When less than a desired level of water exists in the water reservoir pan It the weight of the water in the large water capacity end of the pan does not overbalance the combined effect of spring 48 and the weight of the water in the small water capacity end of the pan (due to step 10a) and it pivots in a manner wherein the front end of the pan is raised from the position shown in Fig. 4 to that shown in Fig. 5 by action of spring-48. This causes the lever 47 topivot in a counterclockwise direction from the position shown in Fig.- 4to that shown in Fig. 5, thus releasing the pressure exerted on valve stem 45 which in turn releases the flexible valve diaphragm 32 to an extent wherein the seal between the annular sealing rib 33 and the nozzle '21 is broken and water is permitted to flow through the nozzle into the chamber 31 through spout 35 downwardly via water supply tube 39 into the water reservoir pan 10. Diaphragm 32 when unstressed tends to fall away from nozzle 21. When the weight of the Water in the large water capacity end' of the reservoir pan again overbalances the combined effect of spring 48 and'the weight of the water in the small water capacity end of the pan, the pan is caused to pivot' once again to the position shown in Fig. 4, whereinthe heretofore described operation recc-curs and the valve 20 is shut off to further flow.

In other words, the moment of the tension spring '48, in addition to the moment of the weight of the water in the small water capacity end of the water reservoir pan, taken about the pivotal axis of said pan, tend to raise the front end of the water reservoir pan to theposi tion shown in Fig. 5, while the moment of the water in the large capacity end of the water reservoir pan, taken about the pivotal axis of the pan, tends to lower the front end of the Water reservoir pan to the position.

shown in Fig. 4. The tension in spring 43 may be adjusted so that'a desiredpredetermined level or amount of Water in the large water capacity end of the "water reservoir pan creates a moment which overcomes the combined moments of the water in the small water capacity end of the pan and that of tension spring 48.

-en this occurs, the front end of the Water reservoir pan swings downwardly to the position shown in Fig. 4, wherein the water valve 20 is closed as heretofore described. Upon evaporation of a predetermined amount of water, the moment of the spring 48, in addition to that of the water in the small water capacity end of th'e pan overcomes the moment of the water in the'large water capacity end of the water reservoir pan and the-- front end of said pan raises to the position of Fig. 5

wherein valve 2%) is opened and water again flows into the pan and the cycle again repeats itself.

An evaporator plate support .3 comprising a generally channel shape member removably secured at one end'to the mounting plate 12, extends rearwardly above and parallel to the center line of the water reservoir pan. The plate support member 53 is secured to the rear face of the mounting plate 12 by means of an outstanding lug 54 on member 28 which engages in a small aperture adjacent the front end of the plate support. An upstanding U-shaped support bracket 6%) pivotally secured to the metal ring member 15 and engages beneath support 53 to provide support for the plate support 53 adjacent its rearmost end. It will be understood that any tilting movement of the reservoir pan will be transmitted via the upstanding support bracket 60 to the plate support 53 and the plates 56. The plate support rack 53 thus pivots about lug 54, there being enough freedom between the outstanding lug 54 and aperture of said plate support member to permit this pivotal movement. The plate support member is provided with a plurality of spaced openings 53a which are cut or punched out of its upper surface.

It will be noted in Fig. 1 that the pivot point for the member 6% which helps support the evaporating plates 56 is located slightly to the right of the members 16 which provide the pivot point for the evaporator pan it In this position of the member fill, the weight of the plates helps as a counterbalance, being added to the weight of the water in the smaller capacity end of pan 1%. The pivot point connection of the member so on the ring 15 could be placed on the other side or to the left of the pivot support 16 as seen in Fig. 1, where the weight of the plates 56 would serve as extra closing pressure urging the stem 45 upwardly to close the valve 29. The pivot connection of the member 69 to the ring 15 might be placed directly above the pivot support 16 for pan it), in which position, the Weight of the plates 56 would have no efiect on the balancing of the pan 10 about its own pivot. Such a position is shown in Fig. 1A. In all positions, the support of the plates 56 is such that under no conditions will the plates come in contact with the pan 1t and disturb its balance.

in order to facilitate evaporation of water, a plurality of evaporator plates 56 are provided. The evaporator plates are generally Tshape as seen in Fig. 3 and made of suitable water absorbent and heat resistant material and have a shank portion 56:: which depends into the water of the reservoir pan and an enlarged head or transversely extending section which is provided with an aperture 57 as best seen in Pig. 3 through which said plate support 53 projects and by which the evaporator plates are supported on said plate support member free of pan 19. A small lug-like portion 57a of each evaporator plate projects downwardly from the upper edge of each aperture 57 and is adapted to engage in one of the openings 53a provided along the top surface of the plate support member. The shank portion of each evaporator plate, as heretofore described, depends into the reservoir pan to such an extent as to dip into the water contained therein and thereby function as a wick which absorbs the water and distributes it across its large surface from which it is readily evaporated. The lower edges of the evaporator plates remain out of contact with the water reservoir pan at all times to permit flee tilting of said pan.

In order to permit checking the level of the Water in the transparent water reservoir pan, an opening 55 is provided in member 12. if desired, a removable inspection plate 61 may be provided snapped into the opening 55, and providing means for inspection of the water level in pan 19, particularly where the pan is of transparent material. A removable U-shaped facing or housing 63 may be provided as a protective device for the valve actuating mechanism and to improve the appearance of the front face of the humidifier.

in view of the foregoing description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, it is believed that a clear understanding of the construction, operation and advantages of the device will be quite apparent to those skilled in this art.

What is claimed is:

1. In a humidifier, a support frame having means for attachment to a wall of a chamber, a liquid reservoir pan, a portion of said frame providing pivotal mounting means engaging said pan intermediate its ends and holding said pan for limited oscillation relative to said frame, liquid supply means for said reservoir pan and operatively connected with the latter for control of the liquid supply responsive to oscillation of said pan, an evaporator plate support bar having a mounting on said frame near one end of said pan, a strut operatively connected between said pan and said bar at a point removed from said mounting, and evaporator plates mounted on said bar and extending downwardly into the liquid in said reservoir, said mounting and strut holding said plates at all times out of contact with said pan.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said strut connection with said pan is to one side of said pivotal mounting means, whereby the weight of said bar and plates offsets the balance of said pan about said pivotal mounting means.

3. The combination of claim 1 wherein said strut connection with said pan is substantially vertically aligned with said pivotal mounting means, whereby the balance of said pan about said pivotal mounting means is substantially independent of the weight of said bar and plates.

4. The combination of claim 1 wherein a through opening is provided in-each of said evaporator plates at the level of said support bar, said bar passes through said openings in said plates, and interengaging parts on said bar and plates for holding said plates in predetermined position on said bar, said parts being interengaged by the act of placing said plates on said bar with said bar extending through said plate opening.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 921,953 Croshier May 18, 1909 928,836 Anderson July 20, 1909 1,158,553 Phelps Nov. 2, 1915 1,621,436 Sallada Mar. 15, 1927 2,303,235 Seldon Nov. 24, 1942 2,573,158 Muth Oct. 30, 1951 2,585,764 Getz Feb. 12, 1952 2,709,427 Perlman May 31, 1955 2,709,428 Perlman May 31, 1955 2,746,481 Coan May 22, 1956 

